stfranalum

^ bar bouncer would be a good start

can you give an example of things you remember from primary school?


...and dont say, "i learned to write" because you learned to write over a long period of time. one teacher did not teach you "how to write".

nor did you learn math from just one class. your lesson plans are not as important as you may think. and you may have a hard time dealing with that.

basically, you learned nothing from one teacher. so to say that you are teaching them these bits of knowledge that will save them from impending career doom is nonsense.

kids learn over time. they learn with repetition and reinforcement. teaching them by demonstrating outrageous behavior, cuts at that. you are teaching them to reject the skills of self discipline and self control, which is far more important than any data of information.

youd say the self control for student is not more important, than say, 6x6 = 36?

a little pretentious to think that what you are teaching them in primary school content will save their career chances and give them a leg up. "what im doing is the pinnacle and apex of their learning experience....leave me be in my success bubble!!"

in school, they learn how to learn.

i for one, cant remember a single goddamn thing from primary or even secondary school. but i remember teachers. i remember what it felt like to be there. and i remember being scolded at for not paying attention. did that help? hell no. ive been a jag-off my whole life in school.

in fact, the teachers i remembered best are the ones who made learning fun. you'd say that blowups create a real desire for students to learn? i for one, would like to hear that expained.

however, i do remember content from university. i remember lessons and syllabi from a few classes.



no.

but i have wanted to do teacher training. to show others a mirror of their own behavior so they can see the consequences.

again, i too am guilty of being overly mad in class. i have a hot temper. nothing to be ashamed of. but it aint good, and theres no justifying it because they are in a poor country.

you are simply in a job where they tolerate you. no school, like an international school, with many applicants would put up with a primary school teacher who blows up on students. its simply inappropriate. claiming rationalizations for it, means you think its ok.

peelieorion

Have to agree. One of the must have qualities here is to keep calm. Most behaviours from students can be prevented with good systems, consistency and high expectations of behaviour. I hear too many people saying I can't change this, I can't challenge that and wondering why the students misbehave and drive them nuts. If you haven't got a calm temperemant, youu probably shouldn't be teaching.

stfranalum

that can be developed over time.

a hot head, like myself, can learn to curb behaviors through a variety of ways....like student-generated content, which usually keeps kids on task and focused better than just dishing them out some stuff and yelling at them to get "interested" in it. dammit!

...through self-reflection, mentoring, and observation...teachers can come a long way. i think ive made good strides in this dept.

i used to go bananas over, "how can i make this shit any fucking simpler!?!?!? "

...then i learned actually i wasnt scaffolding enough. i assumed too much and it was my approach that needed to be magnified to more detail.

but that took time.


...and a whole lot of

Hamster

I have an amazingly calm temperament almost all the time. This makes me able to get along with administrators, colleagues, students, parents, etc. However, I can be pushed to a point of irrationality and somewhat explosive behavior. Fortunately this happens very rarely (twice in seven years) and I am genuinely mortified when it does occur. I realize this is not the best trait to have and have worked on it for years, but it still rears its ugly head every once in a while.

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stfranalum

^ awareness of one's teaching is crucial.


like the G.I Joe cartoon used to say....


"And knowing is half the battle"

Lotuslevi

[quote=tropic of cancer;1053989]


the bottom line is kids dont remember jack squat from school in academics. they learn how to learn.


That's a load of shit. Ever thought of writing self-help books?

How long have you been a teacher? I just have to ask this because this sounds like something somebody who has very little experience in a classroom would say. Perhaps I`m wrong about you, but I have seen people crash and burn because they held the same attitude as you (myself included when I first got started).

I recommend you take a look in a university textbook for secondary education majors, and then expand your brilliant criticism of Frannie`s philosophy. Sounds like you could use a self-help book yourself.

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Fortesque Smythe Brown

8ball and stfranalum.

Great comment's right on target.

I have never lost my cool in the classroom,as already said if you do lose your cool you've lost your class and any respect you may have had too.

Remember we were kids once too,We have three kids,all boys 8.12;15 years old they probably keep me in training with the kids I teach current mindset mode.

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Lotuslevi

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ben

Interesting thread, controlling ones temper in class when we have so much bs to put up with. I find if you do lose your temper with them, they often just play on that anyway. And you start chasing your tail. You then have to try to curb that but it is hard to stay calm, I have heard people say that they just switch off when they arrive at school, do what needs to be done, go home and switch themselves back on again. They seem to do very well by adopting that attitude too. Personally, sometimes I come across as being too strict and the kids are probably thinking "what an %%%%%" but then when they see that I am strict for their benefit, some of them come around to my way of thinking, not all of them of course and it does help that I work at a government school and they are kind of used to harsh treatment, as it were.

On an international level, I've seen even top educators get flustered, not lose their tempers so much but just get red-faced, I find personally they are the most interesting to learn from and know the most. At primary level it seems children take to women better because they are far more relaxed, loving and caring and male teachers tend to be well, male.

I understand that this is Thailand and to lose your cool means to lose face but hey sometimes you have to get your class in order. Perhaps seeing two sides of the coin so to speak, I mean male teachers who are a bit stict and seeing female teachers who are more loving and caring will help them learn the balance and appreciate that people can and will lose their tempers.

Kids lose their tempers all the time anyway regardless, somebodies got to be there to tell them "hey, stop that, you can't punch that guy" etc.

My cousin has a two year old kid and his wife was pregnant with a new kid, his wife is allergic to being pregnant and ends up seriously sick when she is pregnant. Anyway, the kid was acting up, as kids do and would not eat her food, whilst her mum was in the hospital due to her allergy, my cousin gave her the opportunity to eat her food but she insisted that she wanted something else. My cousin picked up the plate, put the food into the dustbin and told her to sit on the stairs until she would apologise for her behaviour. Yes, it was harsh, No, we as teachers could not do such things but this one lesson taught the child a number of things: she cannot always have her own way, people do get flustered and can be easily provoked, she is still the child and as such she needs to respect adult figures. Needless to say after this lesson, Eva became compliant.

My point is: a bit of harsh treatment doesn't hurt anyone, of course again this is Thailand and Asia and we cannot lose our tempers but occassionally shouting and showing our students that they are acting like %%%%%%% , well personally I don't dissaprove.

MisterStretch

I work with Korean teenagers. When they misbehave with other teachers they are forced to get on their knees on the hard floor, or get into a 'push up' position at the height of the 'push up', they are often hit on their hands, backs of their thighs or their butts.

I don't hit, but if they have pushed me to my limit, a quick shout generally does the trick...I only resort to it as a last resort.

I have a few times, for completely incorrigible classrooms, just picked up my things and walked out with a look of anger and disgust on my face. That works very well.

My favorite this year is the :50 minutes of silence I had with one particularly bad class. They had pushed me over the limit and the next time I walked into the room I just sat down and stared at anyone that would make eye contact with me. They are much better now.

Topper

Here's a little story about last few minutes of my last class of this semester.

The setting: M2/1 (supposedly the worst grades, but ok in English) at a large government school.

I've collected their final tests and am complimenting them on their work, wishing them good luck on their Thai tests and in the middle of telling to have fun over the holiday when a young lad hollers out "Fuck You!".

My Thai coteacher looked at me and went white as a ghost. He told me later he thought I would just kill the boy right there (jokingly of course).

My first reaction was of course to instant rage. To have anyone say that in a serious tone to me at least does push my button. But I walked and actually paced the room, gave the Thai teacher a wink (he was in tears already thinking of how he would explain the students death to the students parents). Then I lit into his ass explaining the depth of the insult, compared it to calling a Thai adult a Lao and made sure that they all understood. Then, I explained that if they didn't know what the words meant, either come ask me or don't use them, as the words might cause them problems, like this.

Needless to say I did the first part at the top of my voice, the second one in my "teachers" voice. Lastly I sat down at the teachers desk and quietly asked the class what should happen next. After a few minutes of VERY quiet discussion, the students suggested to me that he apologize. I told them very quietly to tell the student, he apologized and I shook his hand and said OK.

The student and I rode down the elevator together and he must have apologized 3-4 more times, with me explaining it was Ok now.

The point of all of this is to me, sometimes "losing" your temper can be productive for the students as long as you keep yourself under control. You should always explain the misbehavior and then give a chance for reconciliation. That way they learn, they realize you really ain't that much of a hardass and no resentment is held by either side.

Works for me and my students.

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Bubba

Lots of good points. I'd say to all the folks going along the line of 'if you get angry you've lost the battle' that an occasional, well-timed and controlled blast of furious righteous indignation can be a very useful classroom management technique. It's only by getting angry over and over again that you start to lose respect and eventually become a laughing stock for the students.

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BerryGoose

My opinion (what I said in an earlier post) still stands. If you truly get mad in the classroom then you have lost and the kids have won, that simple. I also said that well placed use of controlled anger works very well.

stfranalum